LOWELL -- St. Nick gave himself an early Christmas gift Wednesday at Lowell General Hospital's basket raffle to benefit the Sun Santa Fund.

After romping among the crowd in his red costume, fake belly, and snow white beard, Ray Scott got some holiday cheer of his own as his name was drawn as the winner of the first prize basket. It was the second year in a row that Scott, who works in the hospital's volunteer services department, won a basket. And for good reason.

"It's karma," Scott said. "Every year I partner up with somebody who needs some help, and that's why I win."

The partnership between Lowell General Hospital and the Sun Santa Fund has also been a winning one, raising just short of $1 million since the two organizations began working together in 2004.

Michelle Mascari of Hudson, N.H., picks up her basket of gift cards at the end of the raffle basket drawings at Lowell General Hospital Wednesday to benefit the Sun Santa Fund.
SUN/Julia Malakie

This year was the best haul ever. The 36-basket raffle raised just over $75,000 in ticket sales, which the hospital matched for a total contribution of $150,375. The tally was boosted over the previous record, $140,000 set in 2015, in part by a change to the event: this was the first year people could purchase raffle tickets online.

The proceeds from the Sun Santa Fund are distributed as food and gift vouchers to needy families in The Sun's circulation area.

"Everybody won today," said Jody White, CEO of Circle Health and Lowell General Hospital. "The dollars that you put into Sun Santa are going to make a world of impact for the neediest families.

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The raffle drawing day is always a big occasion for the hundreds of people who buy tickets in the hopes of winning a basket, as evidenced by the standing-room-only crowd that packed into the hospital's Clark Auditorium. But the days of planning that lead up to the event are a holiday all their own for the staff at Lowell General Hospital.

Each department's staff pools ideas and resources to come up with a themed basket, and the prizes keep getting bigger.

Emergency Department technician Scott Patnode of Manchester, N.H., picks up what he won in the LGH/Sun Santa basket raffle, Have a Green Christmas Scratch Tickets. (SUN/Julia Malakie) (Julia Malakie)

Last year's most valuable basket was $3,000 in cash. This year, the physician services department topped that effort with the Santa's Stash basket: $4,500 in cash.

"We are very lucky that we have a generous group of staff, and the doctors, so we get some big donations," said Stacie Swanson, executive director of physician services. "The buzz around here during Sun Santa -- people love this event and the baskets."

The Smart Home for the Holidays basket, put together by the hospital administration, included a bevy of intelligent household appliances. The Mickey and Minnie Christmas Adventure basket was composed of hundreds of dollars-worth of Disney toys, including a driveable, child-size Range Rover car.

Janine Daunais of Dracut poses for a photo with what she won at the LGH/Sun Santa basket raffle, Santa's Sleigh Repair Kit, with $100 of gift cards, $126 in scratch tickets, and $462 in tools from Home Depot. (SUN/Julia Malakie) (Julia Malakie)

Throw that Snow To and Fro came with a snowblower, gas can, and shovel. Game On included a television, Nintendo Switch game system, and video games. And other baskets brought sheets of lottery tickets, piles of gift cards, and quite a few bottles of wine.

"The generosity of all your employees, the support of all you people just makes it very special," said Kendall Wallace, former publisher of The Sun and chairman of the Sun Charities.

John and Linda Chemaly, the partial owners of Trinity EMS and local philanthropists who are the campaign chairs of the 2017 Sun Santa Fund, also thanked all the hospitals' employees for their record-breaking generosity.

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